Thermalito Afterbay is a funny name for anything, needless to say an artificial lake about 90 minutes north of Sacramento. But this artificial lake is special because it is one of the four main breeding grounds for Western Grebes and Clark's Grebes in California. Yesterday, some of us from Audubon California went up there to speak with local Audubon chapter leaders and agency officials about how to help these important breeding populations of grebes. This was a preliminary discussion as part of a new project that Audubon California is launching to support the birds.

The issues at Thermalito Afterbay are pretty simple. The grebes create these floating nests, and we need to find a way to ensure that these aren't disturbed during breeding season.